I live in a world where sounds come out of these magical black boxes and i am happy never knowing more then that. In all honesty i have ****** Logitech speakers that i am looking to upgrade and not really sure what to get. I don't own a TV etc.. and just have my laptop and it would be mainly for music. I have about a 600$ budget, which i know is not much, but want to streamline my setup and not have a whole bunch of speakers i have no room for. i would really appreciate any help/suggestions.

Get an old , reasonably good, 5.1 AVR from a pawn shop or the like. Should be $30 or so. (you want an AVR to peel off the low-frequencies for your sub, so resist a stereo receiver)
Get a pair of nearfield bookshelves with good off-axis performance. I'd recommend looking at the Behringer 2030p and the Infinity Primus 163. ($200 a pair or so)
Spend what's left on a small sub (Dayton has some decent gear at parts-express.com)

If this is just for use with your laptop, and you want as simple to hook up as possible, get a pair of Emotiva Airmotiv 5 speakers and an ODAC with the RCA output option. Plug the ODAC into your computer, then connect the Airmotivs to the ODAC. You'll get very nice sound out of that for music.

If you plan on hooking up other devices later on, such as a TV, gaming console, or blu-ray player, then it would be better to get an HT receiver and passive speakers. But definitely more complicated to setup and use.

If this is just for use with your laptop, and you want as simple to hook up as possible, get a pair of Emotiva Airmotiv 5 speakers and an ODAC with the RCA output option. Plug the ODAC into your computer, then connect the Airmotivs to the ODAC. You'll get very nice sound out of that for music.

As long as that music is above 52Hz. (and you've assumed he has a digital out on his laptop, to there's no reason for a DAC); and you are doing it for zero savings (as the lack of a sub is offset by the $150 cost of your DAC.

As long as that music is above 52Hz. (and you've assumed he has a digital out on his laptop, to there's no reason for a DAC); and you are doing it for zero savings (as the lack of a sub is offset by the $150 cost of your DAC.

Not sure what you mean about digital output on his laptop. The ODAC uses USB.

It's an interesting device. It was designed by an engineer who had been testing much more expensive audiophile grade DACs and headphone amps, and he was tired of the "snake oil" claims that many of the companies make. So he took it as a challenge this past year to design a portable USB DAC that specs out comparable in testing to $500 to $1000 DACs. And then he open sourced the design. Here's an overview of the DAC part of the project (he also created a headphone amp, the O2).

thanks for the info and sorry for the lack of details i blame the late hour. i do currently have a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro USB Sound Card hooked up to my laptop i currently plug my jank Logitech into that. i also have my 360 hooked to it and my external monitor with a HDMI switch. so generally its not that i can't do complicated it that i am trying to slim down what i have. its all getting bulky. i am also currently limited in what/where i can buy. i got a 600$ credit at a specific store. so i have to pick from the more well know like Klipsch , Martian Logan Etc... would it be a good idea to get a Klipsch G-28 pair it with some g-12's and then a sub and receiver of whatever brand?

What store do you have a credit with? Then we could look and see what they have.

ABT

Quote:

Originally Posted by JerryLove

Fry's carries the Infinity certainly, and likely the Behringer and Pioneer.
Best Buy carries the Pioneer certainly, the Behringer in some stores, and I've not seen the Infinity.
You talk about "bulky". Is this something you'll be travelling with? That makes a considerable difference.

no, my laptop is from the ASUS ROG line. it sits on my desk. its a big bitch and is just a replacement for a desktop/TV